Hey guys, i had another thread going about how my tranny is grinding AGAIN in 5th gear. Well I went to the dealer today, and of course the service manager saw my car before he even said anything. He started saying, if your car has any exhaust or lowering or anything, it will void any warranty and we cannot cover it. I tried to correct him, but he wouldn't even allow me to. Pissed off here, but I move on. We get into the car, and he wants to go for a test drive, but I say theres no need, still grinds when the car is not moving. I show him, he gets a cringe look on his face and calls the tech in. Tech comes in, I show him whats happening, and he says that I'm doing it on purpose. I ruined the tranny. By then, I have a tech, service manager, and a service advisor. Now they all are saying I don't know how to drive, and that I'm shifting "too fast" for the clutch to handle it. Now, dont get me wrong, but isnt this a SPORTS car?!?! I have NEVER heard of a clutch not being able to handle my OH SO FAST shifting. (sarcasm) The service advisor, who was a complete ***** to me last time, said that it is because I am "speed shifting" When I asked what he meant by that, he said I'm shifting just too fast. If i remember correctly, speed shifting is when you dont use the clutch to shift. Not shifting too fast for the car to handle.
Service manager says he will not warranty this because it is my fault, and he is going to have an engineer from Infiniti come by in a few weeks to see what to do. At this point, my dad, who was with me got frustrated too. We got the number to Infiniti direct and we are going to take it from there.

HOW WRONG IS THIS? MOD's (exhaust, coils, and clear corners) with a combination of my speed shifting, are causing my transmission to break its synchros. HELP!

 

wow that sucks..ur mods have ntohing to do wiht the tranny... try taking it to a different dealer and see what they might say

 

i'm no expert, but i doubt that an aftermarket exhaust can affect the clutch and transmission of the car. dealers will ALWAYS try to get out of doing warranty work by using the "mods voids your warranty" b.s. however, according to the magnuson moss act, the dealer has to prove that your mod caused the damage. if he's unable to do so, it can't void the warranty.

next time you come back, make sure to bring in some documents on the prevalent grinding problems that many g35's experience. for example, print up the forum threads on the grinding problems. make sure to highlight those posts by actual members who had their tranny/clutch repaired under warranty. if the dealer doesn't help, go to upper management.

 

You want to ask those folks if they have ever heard of the Magnuson Moss Act. I suggest that you and your father look this up.

 

Good one, Z2G . . . You beat me to it. LOL

 

the mods made him shift too quick is wat the dealership is sayin.

 

I feel for ya...been there with previous cars.

I am not trying to rub salt into a wound, but the issue is that they "sorta" have the edge when it comes to these things...

We all know you are right...that Coils and Exhaust do not have anything directly with the 5th gear.

The angle they are taking is that the mods have altered it from a state it left the factory. They can claim that because the car is not in a form that it was designed, that they can not be held responsible as those mods could have attributed in the smallest degree to the issue you are having.

That being said...it is still BS. They have to prove that those mods are directly related to the issue you are having.

I was successful in getting work done to the car by calling Mazda Canada and by taking it to 2 other dealers.

BUT...I have also seen it go the other way.

My advice, take it to another dealership and get their OPINION, also a shop (non-dealership) to evaluate the issue. Then take it from there.

 

yea, ive spent the last 30 mins printing up threads and posts about all the grinding issues. i will print this one out too. i told him that there is an act about that, but he just blew it off. Have you ever heard of shifting TOO FAST? apparently i need a full racing clutch for it to handle my fast shifts. oh ya, dont people track their Twin Turbo cars with the stock clutch? if not the TT's atleast people with SC's and all motor engines work with the stock clutch, and havent had grinding issues due to their awesome shift speed.

 

1. When they say you are speed shifting, I suppose they mean power shifting. Power shifting is executing a shift without taking your foot off the gas pedal during the shift. Power shifting improves 1/4 mile times but in the ole days prior to rev limiters, it was very risky. Lots of blown engines from missed shifts. Yes, this technique is tough on your tranny, but judging by your post you didn't do it.
2. Legally the dealer must honor your warranty unless he is able to prove that you have undertaken some action that caused the part to fail. That's not so easy to do unless you have done something egrigious like added a supercharger. Also, some manufacturers will void your warranty if you use your car for racing. It's not what the dealer suspects, it's what he can prove.
3. So you can threaten to sue the dealer to force him to honor your warranty contract or you can simply go to another dealer.
4. I have a question. Why is this dealer so hostile to you? Many, many years ago I was an auto mechanic and the dealership didn't care if the manufacturer or customer paid for repairs, although I have to admit that the manufacturer was real tight with the hours they gave mechanics for repairs.

 

No i didnt do power shifting at all. wouldnt even know how to do it. I will threaten to sue, and I wouldnt want to go to another dealer, because I don't want them to work and pay for all this. bastards!!! I have no idea why they are so hostile. First time i went there, I was treated like crap. I got sarcastic remarks from the service advisor, and I complained about him. From then on, its been like this. NEVER GO TO SANTA MONICA INFINITI!!

 

I am sorry to hear that, but you should point out to them that they have to prove you are causing the problem, or threaten to sue them. Sounds like my dealership. NEVER GO TO HERB CHAMBERS INFINITI (atleast for service)

-Mike

 

I was gonna say if you went to Infiniti of Montclair... I think we should really do a poll and give Infiniti HQ a report of how bad the customer services are at Dealor's service dept; they are worse than my Honda, what a joke.

Did the manual ever say drivers must drive in certain way to "baby" their clutches? I suggest Infiniti offer 10 free driving lessons for all owners so we know how "NOT TO" void the warranty caused by THEIR DEFECTIVE designs

I will never get a infiniti, that is all I can say to you. My next car can be lexus, acura, or even hyundai, but never infiniti. Dont get me wrong, I love my G, but I really dont like the overall experiences at infiniti dealorships

 

I know exactly what you mean, although I am not going as far as ruling out Infiniti, but I get my oil changed at a Nissan dealership (15 minutes from my house, where the Infiniti dealership is 1.5 hours) and the experience there is excellent, they are so nice and do everything they can for you. They made me wait an long time for an oil change once, and gave it to me for free. I also called when I had a problem with my G so they could look at it and tell me if it was anything serious before i brought it up to Infiniti, and they schedualed me right in for an hour later! I wish I could have all my warranty work and all service done through Nissan, they are so much better.

 

This will be an unpopular opinion, but is a circumstance I've encountered in the past.

Car and drivetrain is engineered to handle specific horsepower and torque values.

Modifications increase these values.

Drivetrain breaks down due to increased horsepower & torque.

Modifications caused breakdown.

End of story.

Not always true but it is a legal position that the dealer can stand by if they choose to. In the case I was privy to, the dealer won.

Go to another dealer. Don't waste your time.

 

thats bs, everybody there sounds like complete a$$holes, good luck with what happends in the future